It's in the post!

[Rockford]

I've wanted an exterior post van for some time. You 1/25 lads have one, even the 1/43 boys get one in the TnT series! 1/32? Just a desert. 

So I made my own from a Monogram Reefer kit. Cut the sides out and recessed them. Added 1mm square strip at each rivet line to keep that detail.

After that it was pretty standard stuff like suspension mods. I pegged the two suspension rails together to make it easier.

Getting the van body near square was a real struggle. Once released from each other, the roof and sides proved to be bent all over the place which required heavy bracing on the chassis. I borrowed the suspension off the Pruitt trailer for a mock up. 

Edited January 1, 2024 by Rockford
Text corrected

[cifenet]

Hi Steve,

At first, I didn't understand what you meant by post, but I figured it out.   

That is some work you are putting into.  If you didn't tell, I would have thought that is how the kit came out as. 

It definitely adds details and transfers into something unique! 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2024 by cifenet

[chuckyr]

Nice improvement.

[Rockford]

The title came from when I was a kid and saw the AMT Exterior Post van advertised and thought it was something to do with a special type of mail! Took me a while to work it out. 

Got it on its feet. Altered the wheels to eliminate the shallow wheel rim. Landing gear tomorrow. 

[Gary Chastain]

Well done

[The Brush]

Hi Happy new year. Great work on the trailer, Looks good.

 

[Force]

Looks nice Steve

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks amazing!!

[Rockford]

Built the operating landing gear. Reprofiled the front bulkhead and started building a rear roller tailgate instead of the kit doors. Also added the backs to the rear lights. 

 

[cifenet]

You got this build going so clean and neat. 

Rolling tailgate is a nice touch, I don't think I have seen this type of tailgate in a kit, so you know your build is special.

BTW, when you say "operational landing gear", you mean like pushing a button making the jacks to go up!?

 

[Rockford]

2 hours ago, cifenet said:

You got this build going so clean and neat. 

Rolling tailgate is a nice touch, I don't think I have seen this type of tailgate in a kit, so you know your build is special.

BTW, when you say "operational landing gear", you mean like pushing a button making the jacks to go up!?

 

Nothing that complicated with the landing gear, I just use square tube and rod so they can telescope like the real thing and create enough resistance to support the weight of the trailer when extended. I just push and pull manually. 

There's a tailgate rear door on the 1/25 AMT doubles trailers and the Coca Cola Ford, but there's nothing in 1/32. These exterior post vans seemed to have this type of door because they weren't insulated etc... so could be quite simple. I'm hoping mine helps to hold the box almost square, it really is all over the place. 

Thanks for your comments mate. 

[Rockford]

I planted the two uprights in the tailgate aperture both for support and so I could drill a row of holes along them, into the holes I pushed dressmakers straight pins to represent the coachbolts that hold the hinges in place. I also scratch built a locking mechanism at the bottom and a pull handle. I might tie a piece of thick cotton to that to mimic the rope you see on so many of them, so that the driver doesn't have to stretch to reach it. This will soon be awaiting the right weather for paint. 

[Pete68]

Looking good Steve. I like that roll up door. 

[cifenet]

The fabrication work is excellent, I like what you did with the handle mechanism at the bottom. 

Looking at the hinges, they have natural metal shine (because they are real), I wonder if it is worth keeping that finish or simply paint over at the end... 

At any rate, the trailer looks massive, no one would know if you tell say it is in 1/16th scale.

BTW, I don't know how US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) thinks that under guard crash bar is going to save anybody. 

They really need to raise the standard for it.  Any sedan hitting the back of the trailer above 40mph probably won't have survivors.

 

[Firebuilder]

Looks very nice, a lot of work going into that trailer 

[Rockford]

18 hours ago, cifenet said:

The fabrication work is excellent, I like what you did with the handle mechanism at the bottom. 

Looking at the hinges, they have natural metal shine (because they are real), I wonder if it is worth keeping that finish or simply paint over at the end... 

At any rate, the trailer looks massive, no one would know if you tell say it is in 1/16th scale.

BTW, I don't know how US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) thinks that under guard crash bar is going to save anybody. 

They really need to raise the standard for it.  Any sedan hitting the back of the trailer above 40mph probably won't have survivors.

 

Thanks mate. Good idea for the rivets, I'll keep it in mind. 

The rear bumper is pretty rubbish, modern ones don't look any better, I suppose they're better than nothing but it's all about weight and payload isn't it?

[Rockford]

21 hours ago, Pete68 said:

Looking good Steve. I like that roll up door. 

Thanks mate, modifying the kit doors would have been just as much work. 

[Rockford]

7 hours ago, Firebuilder said:

Looks very nice, a lot of work going into that trailer 

Thanks, not as much as your fire appliances though! 

[Rockford]

Not a lot to report, snatched a few hours to plumb the tandems in. I always leave it until the end and end up working through the subframe, awkward! Looks good enough. 

I'm not getting my usual hours in this weekend because we're going to visit friends in Leyland, Lancashire, where they used to make Leylands of course. I used to work on Leylands, amongst many others. Buffalos, Bisons, Octopuses (Octopae?), the full works. Indeed the very first vehicle I ever drove was a Buffalo in Tate and Lyle's yard. Some were ok, some were rubbish, especially those with the fixed-head OHC 500.

Some photos of Tate and Lyle's yard after we shut down in 1981. Trucks were sure simpler in those days. 

[stitchdup]

theres still one of those leylands running around up here. Its owned by a haulage company and only gets used for hauling cattle. They have 4 of them for spares and changed the rest of the fleet to volvos about 10 yeras ago. Its not a restored truck, just an old work truck but its being kept until its unfixable as it was their first ever new truck

[Rockford]

Oh wow! I wonder what engine it's running? Can't be a 500, must be the later TL11 which was the old 680 with a turbo on it. That proved to be much better. They had Fuller transmissions in them so they last forever. The cabs fell to pieces quite rapidly though, I remember they used to be delivered in primer, how long they'd sat in all weathers in that state I dread to think. 

[stitchdup]

29 minutes ago, Rockford said:

Oh wow! I wonder what engine it's running? Can't be a 500, must be the later TL11 which was the old 680 with a turbo on it. That proved to be much better. They had Fuller transmissions in them so they last forever. The cabs fell to pieces quite rapidly though, I remember they used to be delivered in primer, how long they'd sat in all weathers in that state I dread to think. 

I'm not sure what engine it runs but the starter is different from most. it had all the gubbins inside the main casing so if the solenoid needed replaced you had to take the entire thing to pieces cos it was right at the drive end. The starter weighed a lot more too being about twince the size. I only had to repair it once though, cos i was helping out a friend that did starters and alternators that got swamped with work. I think the starter was made by c.a.v or something like that.

[Rockford]

Yes, CAV were popular along with Lucas and Butec stuff. I can't recall which had what now, although there were often either used depending on where they were built. 

[cifenet]

14 hours ago, Rockford said:

Not a lot to report, snatched a few hours to plumb the tandems in. I always leave it until the end and end up working through the subframe, awkward! Looks good enough.

I'm not getting my usual hours in this weekend because we're going to visit friends in Leyland, Lancashire, where they used to make Leylands of course. I used to work on Leylands, amongst many others. Buffalos, Bisons, Octopuses (Octopae?), the full works. Indeed the very first vehicle I ever drove was a Buffalo in Tate and Lyle's yard. Some were ok, some were rubbish, especially those with the fixed-head OHC 500.

Some photos of Tate and Lyle's yard after we shut down in 1981. Trucks were sure simpler in those days. 

 

 

 

That is freaking awesome!  Love those photos.  Thanks for sharing the history. 

BTW, Nice touch on the brake lines, I like how they hang down, looks like the real thing.

[Rockford]

Finally a change in the weather. Got to shoot the colour on my trailer, as if I need another one to store. 

Looks ok. Just got the detail painting to do now, lights, hoses, wheel spiders etc... 

The modification of the suspension to F2 lightweight has transformed the look of the trailer for me, can't really understand why though.